Last Friday my partner Gina and I hosted another one of our Designer Scouts events, for the second time now during the Press Days. With the special event we launched this year’s collaboration with long-term partner SKYY VODKA. It’s now the fourth year that we will be hosting the SKYY VODKA SWAP MARKET happening in late summer. But this year the swapping will not only take place during one event in Berlin, it will happen throughout the whole year all over Germany. SKYY VODKA teamed up with numerous magazines to raffle off many small private swaps taking place in the homes of the lucky winners who will not only get all the equipment they need for the swap party, but also ingredients for delicious cocktails and amazing designer pieces.

Just like the big SKYY VODKA SWAP MARKET the private swaps will also get designer hosts, for this season we’ve selected the sustainable labels Ica Watermelon and Anne Gorke and the avant-garde labels Franziska Michael and Julia Heuse. Those four designer hosts were introduced at the event on Friday with three stunning fashion presentations and one amazing fashion film. At the exclusive pre-swap we also had a couple of outfits by them as well as from Weekday and Front Row Society. Stay tuned to the SKYY VODKA facebook page to find our more about the private swaps.

Thanks to SKYY VODKA for the long collaboration, to our designers for their great presentations and film, to everyone involved in the making of this event and to our partner uber who supplied an exlcusive limousine service for our guests. The impressions of the opening event after the jump on 3 pages.

Earlier this year Katja shot this charming fashion film for my Designer Scouts project featuring the designs of Berlin-based labels Esther Perbandt, Von Bardonitz, Moga E Mago, Augustin Teboul and Sadak. The video was commissioned by the Fashion & Art Toronto Festival for their Focus Germany program and it was a great way for us to show the work of our Berlin designers abroad.

The film, titled The Visit, showcases a diverse range of avant-garde fashion in a very unexpected setting while making a tongue-in-cheek statement on the quirks of dating behavior of our modern society. Have a look after the jump.

This is our third and final look behind the curtains of a Berlin Fashion Week event. This time it’s our Designer Scouts fashion show with designers Franziska Michael and Emilia Tikka and labels Marc Andersen and Studio Laend Phuengkit. My dear friend Katja once again made some beautiful photos in the backstage area for us that you can see after the jump and one additional shot by Christian Donath above from a very crucial moment of the event: The changing of the boys. Also, you’ll find the video of our show by FashionDaily.tv after the jump.

Last night was a very exciting night for my friend Gina and me. Our 9th Designer Scouts event took place in the oversized studio of our friend Julia from JULIAANDBEN. When I first stepped into this space it instantly gave me a feeling of excitement: Apart from it’s perfect size and build-up it had such an amazingly positive and creative vibe (probably some left-over Karma from the gallery that was in here before Julia moved in) that I instantly thought: We have to do a runway show in here. We haven’t actually done any runway since the good old days when we started the Designer Scouts project at HBC about two years ago. What a long journey we’ve had since then: installations, fashion presentations, exhibitions, fashion films, swap markets and what not. But in the end it was clear: The ultimate ritual of fashion is the runway show. My recap and the impressions after the jump.

All the fashion blogs, magazines and PR agencies are abuzz with the upcoming Berlin Fashion Week that will kick of next Tuesday. This is only half-exciting for the fashion enthusiasts amongst you, because as you know the majority of the events are for invited guests only. Luckily, we have once again prepared a big Berlin Fashion Week Event & Party Guide including many public events. On top of bringing you the best of fashion week in one guide we have put together two exciting packages of tickets for shows and parties for you to win as well as a couple of amazing goodies.

In our packages we have included tickets for the shows and presentations of the labels and shows: Andy Wolf x Superrated, Barre|Noire, Blame, Designer Scouts, Istanbul Next and Romanian Designers. We also have a pair of tickets for the winners screening of the first Berlin Fashion Film Festival, for the opening of Bonnie Strange’s The Shit Shop, the opening party and pre-sale of Wedding Dress, as well as fashion week parties at Broken Hearts Club, Flamingo and Cookies, the Patrick Mohr after show party, the opening party by Dandy Diary & Facehunter and the closing party by Derzeit. Also part of the packages is an amazing piece of jewellery by Mies Nobis, an exclusive limited The Shit Shop T-Shirt and a pair of headphones by Urban Ears. Find out how to win after the jump!

On Friday we previewed our German designer export program that we are doing with our project Designer Scouts at the Fashion & Art Toronto Festival in Canada this week. Participating labels Moga E Mago and Isabel Vollrath were showing a fashion presentation and an installation at Merkezi. And we also screened the new fashion film by Katja Hentschel that was specifically created for the festival in Toronto. After the jump you will find the impressions of the preview event on 2 pages.

This coming week has a lot to offer for all the film fans amoungst you. There are screenings at Mindpirates and the Mobile Kino, the Achtung Berlin festival is premiering the new Berlin documentary Berlinized and the Designer Scouts are presenting their new fashion film. In addition we also have a theatre play at Kater Holzig, jewellery markets, concerts, parties and much more after the jump.

Just recently I stumbled across the wonderful video that Katja made for our last Designer Scouts event back in July and I realized that I hadn’t shared it with you here yet. So I’ll take this as an opportunity to start a new series on the blog: Cinéma de Mode. What started as a little screening event in our Designer Scouts Showroom at Achteinhalb will now continue as a blog series showing you the best fashion films on the web. So if you happen to know some good fashion films, especially when they have some connection to Berlin, just submit your suggestions to our eMail address on the contact page or post it on our Facebook wall.

After the jump you can enjoy the beautifully summery fashion film The Gardener by Katja Hentschel.

On Friday night my Designer Scouts partner Gina and I had the honor of being the hosts of the SKYY SWAP MARKET that took place for the third time at the beautiful Stadtbad Oderberger. Many of the designers that we have been working with for our fashion events donated a few pieces from their collections to the market and the guests of the event were able to buy them or to swap them with their own vintage clothes. After the swapping there was a concert of the band Jeannel and an after party with DJs Isabell Polak, Vladimir Karaleev and Hugo Capablanca, as well as way too many delicious SKYY cocktails. All proceeds of the evening were donated to the local HIV charity Berliner AIDS Hilfe e.V.

There is always this one precious dress in every girls wardrobe that she adores, but she never wears it because it is simply not the right size or the wrong color. It’s too good to give it away, but how about exchanging it for something she will actually wear? For instance the unworn vintage treasure of another girl, or maybe a brand new designer piece? This is exactly what the SKYY SWAP MARKET is for.

After last year’s big hit we will be hosting the mega event again with Designer Scouts on August 26, 2011 at Stadtbad Oderberger. Find out how it works after the jump!